What We Fought For
by JandDkraz
Summary: Will Josh and Toby ever be the same?


This is a short little piece that just came to mind.

Spoilers: Drought Conditions.

Characters: Toby/Josh

Disclaimer: (raised right hand) I do not, nor have I ever owned any of the cast or the show. So help me God.

What We Fought For

Josh stepped out of his car, and he looked up at the building before him. He walked in with a huge grin on his face and checked in with the guards.

"Welcome back, Mr. Lyman!" one of the guards called out.

"Thank you, Robert! It's great to be back and do me a favor; call me Josh!"

It was indeed great to be back at the White House. He never thought he'd feel this way since he left. He took a once over throughout the lobby. He turned on his heals and walked into the West Wing, with little more spring to his step. He passed by his old office, smiled and walked down the corridor. Only to see a familiar face, yet the last person he wanted to see, at that moment, Toby. Toby was passing down the other side of the bullpen. He eyed Josh for just a second and carried on to his mission. Josh caught sight of him and did the same.

Later that same day:

Josh walked to the Chief of Staff's office. He wanted to check the place out and meet with C.J. He failed to remember, it was that time of the day; it was a senior staff meeting. Josh stood outside the office when Toby came barreling along. Toby had always vowed to not be late. Once Toby caught sight of Josh, that made him either want to hurry even faster or run the other direction. Josh caught his hesitation and stopped Toby by grabbing him by the arm as soon as he reached the door. Toby spun around to face Josh.

"Look, can we talk?" Josh asked.

"Okay?"

Josh looked around at the busy area.

"Not here."

"Where?"

"Your office?" he asked cautiously.

Remembering their last meeting taking place in his office, Toby laughed a little.

"I guess."

"I promise I won't hit you again." he assured.

"Good to know," he answered shortly.

"See you in 30 minutes?" he asked.

"Till then."

Toby turned away and walked into C.J.'s office. Josh was confused by his reaction but he quickly shook it off and walked the other direction.

30 minutes later:

Josh showed up surprisingly on time. He knocked on the door.

"Yeah?" Toby called out.

Josh took that as an invitation to walk right in. So he opened the door and stepped in. As he shut the door thoughts of their last meeting went through his mind. He slowly walked further in.

"So?" Josh finally said.

He glanced around, and saw boxes scattered through out the room. His gaze ended on Toby.

"So, nice office." he said trying to break the tension.

Toby smirked at that. His attention was quickly back at the box he was packing. After a moment of silence, he sighed and stopped. He walked around to his couch and sat down.

"Take a load off." he invited.

Josh sat across from Toby.

For the longest time they just sat in silence. They haven't spoken to one another in such a long time. Josh wanted to be careful at choosing his words. He's never had to do that before with Toby and felt odd throughout this conversation.

"Look, Toby we need to be able talk to each other."

"Yeah."

"What happened to us?"

"I don't know."

"Where did we stop trusting each other?"

The room went silent again.

"Toby?"

"Yeah?"

"Seriously, where did _we_ go wrong?"

Toby wanted to get to the issue at hand. He was tired of pussy footing around. He also had felt weird about all this but he just wanted to take the band-aid off in one quick motion.

"You want the truth?"

"Yes."

"You left."

"I did."

"And you didn't want me to help."

"That's not it, Toby. I want, no I _need_ to make a difference, this time around. I feel like at times I had been sitting on my hands or a hurt this administration more than I did good."

"You did a lot, Josh. A lot. You got Bartlet elected. Without you we wouldn't have won the house."

"Still we needed to set the party for the 9th year. And I wanted to be sure a democrat was in the house again."

"Well, you accomplished that. I guess a congratulation are in order."

"Thank you."

"I just wish I could've been apart of that success."

"I wish that too."

"Then why did we fight like we were in high school?"

Josh laughed.

"You were pissed and I was pissed and it just got out of control. I'm sorry about that."

"Yeah, so am I."

"And I'm really sorry about David."

"Yeah." He looked down. Wanting to change the subject,"So, Josh Lyman, how does it feel to be the White House Chief of Staff to Matthew Santos?"

"Heh, I'm not there just yet but so far it feels good. So what are you going to do now?"

"It ain't gonna be the private sector that is for sure."

They shared a laugh for the first time in a long while.

They both got up in unison. Josh headed to the door when Toby called him back.

"Josh?"

"Yeah?" he turned to face him.

Toby walked over to Josh and he shook his hand.

"Seriously man, congratulations."

"Thanks Toby. That means a lot coming from you," he smiled and turned away.

He opened the door and disappeared. Toby watched him go. Was anything ever going to be the same between them? Toby wondered.

THE END


End file.
